BQX gets the green light

It looks like the BQX streetcar is happening after all, but you’ll have to wait a decade to hop on.

Earlier today, the de Blasio administration announced that it will move forward with the light rail project, after it completed a two-year feasibility study.

The BQX, or Brooklyn-Queens Connector, is projected to serve half a million riders living along the waterfront, including 40,000 NYCHA tenants.

The new route will connect Astoria, Long Island City, Greenpoint, Williamsburg, Downtown Brooklyn and Red Hook. Sunset Park originally was the terminus, but the city excluded the neighborhood from the new route.

Construction and implementation is expected to cost $2.73 billion. Officials say the project will generate $30 billion of economic impact. The city previously believe they could pay for it with increased property values, but will now seek federal funding.

Luckily, the head of the Friends of BQX is none other than Jessica Schumer, daughter of Senator Chuck Schumer.

An environmental impact study will begin in January, followed by the long public land use process in 2020. If all goes according to plan (and who knows if it will), construction will begin in 2024 and be complete by 2029.

So get ready, Astoria residents. A streetcar named BQX may be coming after all!